Intentions to Marry, 1914 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840454, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 904

District of Whangarei Quarter ending 31 December '.1914.' Registrar Obina

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

23 October '.1914.'

Gustav Belin
Martha Blumhardt

Gustav Belin
Martha Blumhardt
💍 1914/5382

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Spinster

36
36

Kamo
Kamo

3 years
19 years

Residence of A. Blumhardt

14/9288

23 October '.1914.'

Rev J. B. Pattullo, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	23 October '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gustav Belin	Martha Blumhardt
	💍 1914/5382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Spinster
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Kamo	Kamo
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of A. Blumhardt
Folio	14/9288
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Pattullo, Presbyterian

2 November '.1914.'

Marmaduke Walker
Mary Clayton

Marmaduke Walker
Mary Clayton
💍 1914/3585

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Spinster

33
27

Whangarei
Whangarei

33 years
3 months

Mrs. Hiscocks Residence

14/7441

2 November '.1914.'

Rev A. Galpin, Baptist

No	45
Date of Notice	2 November '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Marmaduke Walker	Mary Clayton
	💍 1914/3585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Spinster
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	33 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Mrs. Hiscocks Residence
Folio	14/7441
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Galpin, Baptist

10 November '.1914.'

Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan
Jane Stewart

Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan
Janie Stewart
💍 1914/3586

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironfounder
Domestic Spinster

31
28

Whangarei
Whangarei

31 years
20 years

Church of England, Whangarei

14/7442

10 November '.1914.'

Rev T. A. Zavell, Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	10 November '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan	Jane Stewart
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Stanley Hamilton Buchanan	Janie Stewart
	💍 1914/3586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironfounder	Domestic Spinster
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	31 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Whangarei
Folio	14/7442
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev T. A. Zavell, Church of England

27 November '.1914.'

Edgar Sommerville Season
Jesse Chenor Elliott

Edgar Somervilla Henson
Jessie Eleanor Elliott
💍 1914/3604

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Spinster

29
21

Whangarei
Mangawai

16 months
8 months

Congregational Church, Mangawai

14/7482

27 November '.1914.'

Rev D. Rigg, Congregationalist

No	47
Date of Notice	27 November '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Sommerville Season	Jesse Chenor Elliott
BDM Match (83%)	Edgar Somervilla Henson	Jessie Eleanor Elliott
	💍 1914/3604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Spinster
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Mangawai
Length of Residence	16 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Mangawai
Folio	14/7482
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev D. Rigg, Congregationalist

18 December '.1914.'

Frederick Stephen Phelpott
Eva Hutchinson

Frederick Stephen Philpott
Eva Hutchinson
💍 1914/3582

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic Spinster

34
20

Whangarei
Whangarei

8 years
7 years

Christ Church, Whangarei

14/7438

18 December '.1914.'

Rev J. Cruickshank, Church of England

No	48
Date of Notice	18 December '.1914.'
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Stephen Phelpott	Eva Hutchinson
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Stephen Philpott	Eva Hutchinson
	💍 1914/3582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic Spinster
Age	34	20
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Whangarei
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Christ Church, Whangarei
Folio	14/7438
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December '.1914.'
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Cruickshank, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).